SHILLONG, May 17: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma said the COVID situation in Shillong would have been more complicated had the government not gone for containment and lockdown.
The number of active cases has been increasing in the state and is likely to breach the 5,000 mark by Tuesday.
“If we had not done what we did two weeks back, the situation would have been more complicated,” the Chief Minister said Monday.
Restrictions have been imposed in the East Khasi Hills district since May 1.
Stating that the government would start aggressive sensitisation programmes, Sangma said containment is the precaution needed right now.
He had earlier said the government expects to conduct about 80,000 tests by the end of May, up from 60,000 done last month.
“The government has also been able to increase the number of oxygen-supported beds from 350 to 700. The target is to increase it further to 1,000 in two weeks’ time,” Sangma said.
The state will also increase the number of oxygen cylinders from the current 700 to 1,500 soon, he added.
According to the chief minister, Shillong Civil Hospital, Ganesh Das and RPCH Hospitals would have an oxygen plant each within a few days and a similar facility will come up in Tura, Jowai and Nongpoh Civil Hospital in a week’s time.
The government also intends to have more Corona Care Centres in different clusters of the city besides almost completing 300 beds at IIM and 100 beds each on the NIFT and MATI premises. About 50% of these beds will have oxygen concentrators.
On reports of lockdown violations, Sangma said the people by and large have cooperated with the government.“More compliance is needed in certain areas and markets of the city,” he said, warning of stern steps in such areas.
The chief minister also admitted that the state’s financial condition has worsened due to the COVID-19 situation.
Revealing that the total expenditure on COVID management is more than Rs 400 crore, Sangma said the expenditure this year has been less than 2020.
It may be recalled that the state government had, in September last year, claimed to have spent Rs 399 crore in the fight against the pandemic, inviting sharp criticism from the Opposition and others.
The chief minister, who also holds the Finance portfolio, informed that the state has been managing the COVID expenditure from its own resources.
Asked to react on the comments of MDA partners that the government had failed to contain the spread of the virus, Sangma said “it was not the time to find faults”.
